Container



May 26, 1964 o. F. KUETHER 3,134,630

CONTAINER Filed Dec. 7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. 05cm F. KUETHERATTYs.

May 26, 1964 o. F. KUETHER 3,134,630

CONTAINER Filed Dec. 7, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BY OSCAR F. KUETHER ATTYs.

May 26, 1964 o. F. KUETHER CONTAINER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 7, 1962INVENTOR. OSCAR F. KUETHER BY ATTYS,

United States Patent 3,134,630 CONTAINER Oscar F. Kuether, 125 F St.NW., Ephrata, Wash. Filed Dec. 7, 1962, Ser. No. 243,027 2 Claims. (Cl.312-272.5)

This invention relates to a novel cabinet for the storage of refuse cansor similar items.

The invention is primarily concerned with the provision of an efficientand simple cabinet for the storage of articles, such as refuse orgarbage cans, which are normally both unsightly and vulnerable tophysical damage or vandalism. The present invention contemplates a cabinet having neat outward appearance which will provide an effective andsanitary protective shield for such items.

The cabinet is specifically designed to attain a simple appearance whilehaving built into it a mechanism adapted to facilitate access to theconventional cans stored therein. This provision contemplates a hingedupper lid and a sliding front wall so that when the cabinet is openedthe cans will be completely accessible both for storage purposes and forremoval.

hamper in any manner the normal use of the cans.

It is another object of this invention to provide a container whichprovides maximum accessibility to the refuse cans for removal of thecans without lifting them from the supporting cabinet surface. In thisregard the cabinet is provided with a slidable front wall which operatesautomatically in response to movement of the upper lid and which allowsthe cans to he slid forwardly without any lifting.

These and further objects of the invention will be evident from a studyof the following disclosure and from the accompanying drawings whichillustrate two practical embodiments of the invention which are quiteclosely related to one another. It is to be understood that the relativestructural shapes and the exemplary mechanism illustrated in thesedrawings are not intended to exhaust the possibilities contemplated bythis invention, and therefore are not to restrict its scope beyond thoserestrictions found in the annexed claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective front view of the cabinet showing its intendeduse with the upper lid'and the front wall being opened for access to thestorage cans;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the cabinet shown in FIG- URE 1 with the lidand front wall fully closed;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIGURE 2, with aportion of one wall of the side panel being cut away to show theoperating mechanism;

FIGURE 4 isa view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the lid in its raisedposition;

FIGURE 5 is a front view of a second embodiment of this invention;

FIGURE 6 is an end view of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, with aportion of one end wall broken away to show the operating mechanism andwith the alternate position of the lid and mechanism being shown indashed lines;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along line 77 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 88 in FIGURE 2and illustrating a latch suitable for use with this invention; and

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged front view of the latch mechanism illustrated inFIGURE 8.

The present invention contemplates a container usable to house refusecans or garbage cans for residential or commercial use. It may houseone, two, three, or any multiple number of cans with equaleffectiveness. Primarily it maintains the cans at an elevated positionwhere they are more accessible for filling and for removal, and lessaccessible to rodents,'insects and standing water on the groundsurfaces. The container serves as an outer protective structure toprovide a unitary and neat appearance, and also to protectt the cansagainst marauding animals and vandals.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the first embodiment of this invention isillustrated so as to hold three cylindrical cans 9. The cans rest upon ahorizontal supporting platform 10 which may be solid or may be an opengrate if so desired. At each side of the platform 10 is an upright panel'11 which is preferably a hollow, fully enclosed panel having twoparallel walls. Since the present construction is preferably of sheetmetal, all of the walls are shown with diagonal strengtheningembossments, however, any suitable wall material may be utilized. Fixedto the rear edges of the side panels 11 and extending across the fullwidth of the platform 10 is an upright rear wall 12. The rear wall 12and side panels 11 each extend both above and below the platform 10,which therefore as sumes an elevated position relative to the ground orsupporting surface on which the side panels 11 rest. Hinged to the rearwall 12 is an upper lid 13 which extends across the Width of theplatform 10 directly above it. The lid 13 is connected to the upper edgeof the rear wall 12 by suitable hinges 14 of any conventional type.

Mounted along the front edge of the inside surface of each side panel 11are guide channels 19 which define a vertical track in which the frontWall is slidably mounted. The front wall in this instance comprisesthree elements which shall'be described from bottom to top. Thelowermost of these elements is designated as 15 and extends completelyacross the width of the platform 10 and is securely fixed in place sothat it cannot move. This element 15 has mounted above it two movableelements 16 and 20. The intermediate element 16 has a base edge 17 whichis adapted to rest on base 19a of the channel 19, and which alsoprotrudes rearwardly so as to catch on the bottom surface of theplatform 10 when in its fully raised position. The element 16 is alsoprovided with a forwardly protruding upper lip 18. The topelement 20 hasa rearwardly protruding lower lip'21 which is adapted to engage thelower surface of the lip 18 on element 16 to thereby raise the element16 when'the element 20 is pulled upwardly. The element 20 is completedby a rearwardly directed upper edge 22. The purpose of the two elements16 and 20 is to provide a 3 cessible and may be removed by merelysliding them rom the platform without any lifting.

In order to operate the lid 13 and the wall elements 16 and 20, amechanism has been devised which is shown in detail in FIGURES 3 and 4.This mechanism is provided in each of the side panels 11. Since themechanism is identical at each end of the container only a single endwill be described, it being understood that identical structure is to beprovided at each end of the complete assembly.

The mechanism includes a rigid crank arm 23 which is pivoted to the sidepanel 11 about an axis designated as 24. The crank arm 23 has pivoted toit at 26 a rigid upstanding link 25, which in turn is pivoted to the lidat 27. The connection of the link to the crank arm 23 is offset from thepivot axis 2? of the crank arm 23 and also the connection of the link 25to the lid 13 is offset from the axis of hinge 14. Thus, when the crankarm 23 is pivoted about the axis 24, the lid 13 will be raised orlowered.

In order to correlate the raising of the lid with the lowering of thewall elements 16 and 20 a flexible connector or cable 28 is attached tothe upper element 20 and to the end of the arm 23 at a point designatedas 29. The cable 28 passes over an idler pulley 30 which is rotatablymounted between the walls of the side panels 11. As may be seen in theexemplary structure shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4, when the lid 13 israised about its hinged axis the arm 23 at each end will be raised so asto allow the front wall elements 16 and 20 to lower due to their ownweight and under the guidance of the channels 19. Similarly when the lid13 is closed, the elements 16 and 20 will be raised until their uppersurface meets the lower surface of the lid 13. By correctly choosing thelever lengths of the arms 23, the links 25 and the cable 28, one maycounterbalance the weight of the lid 13 by the weight of the wallelements 16 and 20 so that it is unnecessary to provide further bracketsto maintain the lid 13 in its raised position.

Illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 is a second embodiment of theinvention which differs slightly from that just described. In thisinstance the platform 10, side panels 11, rear wall 12, lid 13 andhinges 14 are the same as previously mentioned and will not be furtherdescribed in detail herein. One difference in this embodiment is thatthe front wall 31 is not formed of two elements but of a single element.It is guided for sliding motion by vertical channel guides 32 on eachside panel 11. The front wall 31 may or may not clear the platform 10when in its fully lowered position, depending upon the relativeelevations of the platform 10 and the height of the complete assembly.This would be a matter of choice and convenience.

The side panels 11 are provided with rigid crank arms 33 shown inFIGURES 6 and 7. These crank arms 33 are pivoted about a commonhorizontal axis and are rigidly connected to one another by a pivotshaft 34. The position of the crank arm 33 in this instance is below theplatform 10 so that the cross shaft 34 will not affect the normal use ofthe container. A rather lengthy upstanding link 35 is connected at 36 tothe arm 33 and at 37 to the lid 13. The front wall 31 is connected to acable 33 wrapped over a pulley 41 and connected at to the rear end ofthe arms 33.

At each end of the overall container is a handle 42 fixed to the shaft34. The handle 42 provides for manual operation of the container so thata person at either end of the container may pivot the handle 42 from thefull line position shown in FIGURE 6, to the dashed line position, so asto operate the lid and front wall when desired. Again, by suitablebalancing of the lever arms the counterbalancing elfect between the lid13 and the front wall 31 may be achieved so that very little exertion isrequired on the handle 42.

Although the counterbalancing effect of the front wall and lid normallywill maintain the elements in their open or closed positions, it isadvisable to provide a latch so as to positively insure that thecontainer will not be accidentally opened when in its closed positionwherein the inner cans 9 are hidden from exterior view. A simple latchwhich can be made of sheet metal is illustrated in FIGURES 8 and 9. Thislatch structure is merely an example and may be replaced by any othertype of latch commercially available or custom designed for thecontainer. The latch includes an inner spring plate 43 riveted at 46 tothe front edge of the lid 13. The plate 43 is curved forwardly at itsbottom edge so as to provide a recess for the reception of the upperedge 22 of the movable front wall element 20, shown in the embodimentillustrated in FIGURES 1 to 4. The latch is closed by merely bringingthe lid 13 downwardly to meet the edge 22 which will snap in the recessformed in the plate 23. The latch may be opened by use of a fixed manualgrip 45 on the lid 13 and a pivotal lever 44 which can release the plate43 from engagement with the edge 22, as shown in dashed lines in FIGURE8. The structure of this latch is exceedingly simple and is compatiblewith the sheet metal construction of the container structure.

Thus I have shown and described a simple container for refuse cans whicheliminates the normal appearance of the cans while maintaining theiruseful qualities in an unimpaired condition. The cans are stored in thecontainer with or without their normal individual lids and arecompletely accessible for filling purposes and for removal withoutlifting. The container is neat in appearance and may be sealed so as toprevent accidental or malicious damage to the contents. The specificstructure illustrated in the drawings is not exhaustive of thepossibilities contemplated in this invention and therefore is notintended to restrict the invention except as it is defined in thefollowing claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A container for refuse cans or the like, comprising:

a horizontal platform;

rigid side frames secured perpendicularly to said platform at each sidethereof and extending both upwardly and downwardly from the elevation ofsaid platform;

a back member rigidly secured between said side frames a lid memberhinged to said back member and movable about its hinge axis from aclosed position resting on said side frames to an elevated openposition;

a front panel slidably mounted between said side frames for motion in avertical plane;

individual crank arms pivoted coaxially to said side frames at each sideof said platform about a horizontal axis;

individual rigid connecting links respectively pivoted to said crankarms at a location offset from said axis and to said lid member at alocation offset from said hinge axis;

and flexible means guided over pulleys mounted on said side frames andconnecting said crank arms to said front panel whereby raising of thelid and lowering of the front panel are effected simultaneously.

2. A container for refuse cans or the like, comprising:

a horizontal platform;

rigid side frames secured perpendicularly to said platform at each sidethereof and extending both upwardly and downwardly from the elevation ofsaid platform;

a back member rigidly secured between said side frames;

a lid member hinged to said back member and movable about its hinge axisfrom a closed position resting on said side frames to an elevated openposition;

a front panel slidably mounted between said side frames for motion in avertical plane;

and means interconnecting said lid and said front panel adapted tosimultaneously eifect lowering of said front panel and raising of saidlid or raising of said front panel and lowering of said lid;

said front panel comprising a plurality of vertically interlockedmembers, each extending across said side frames and adapted to collapsewithin one another when lowered and to vertically expand when raised, soas to close ofi the open space between the front edge of said lid andsaid platform.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OmwakeFeb. 27, Delaney Jan. 15, Liley Mar. 19, Evans June 23, Daly Feb. 21,

1. A CONTAINER FOR REFUSE CANS OR THE LIKE, COMPRISING: A HORIZONTALPLATFORM; RIGID SIDE FRAMES SECURED PERPENDICULARLY TO SAID PLATFORM ATEACH SIDE THEREOF AND EXTENDING BOTH UPWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY FROM THEELEVATION OF SAID PLATFORM; A BACK MEMBER RIGIDLY SECURED BETWEEN SAIDSIDE FRAMES A LID MEMBER HINGED TO SAID BACK MEMBER AND MOVABLE ABOUTITS HINGE AXIS FROM A CLOSED POSITION RESTING ON SAID SIDE FRAMES TO ANELEVATED OPEN POSITION; A FRONT PANEL SLIDABLY MOUNTED BETWEEN SAID SIDEFRAMES FOR MOTION IN A VERTICAL PLANE; INDIVIDUAL CRANK ARMS PIVOTEDCOAXIALLY TO SAID SIDE FRAMES AT EACH SIDE OF SAID PLATFORM ABOUT AHORIZONTAL AXIS; INDIVIDUAL RIGID CONNECTING LINKS RESPECTIVELY PIVOTEDTO SAID CRANK ARMS AT A LOCATION OFFSET FROM SAID AXIS AND TO SAID LIDMEMBER AT A LOCATION OFFSET FROM SAID HINGE AXIS; AND FLEXIBLE MEANSGUIDED OVER PULLEYS MOUNTED ON SAID SIDE FRAMES AND CONNECTING SAIDCRANK ARMS TO SAID FRONT PANEL WHEREBY RAISING OF THE LID AND LOWERINGOF THE FRONT PANEL ARE EFFECTED SIMULTANEOUSLY.